How come Misato is so small in episode 21?

[BritKnee]

During the part where it talks about Misato not being able to speak it shows her in the white room with those children's letter block things, not to mention she seems tiny. I understand why the children's toys would be there as it is comforting to many people in high trauma situations but I can't get over how small she seems considering she is meant to be around 16.

[asukakinnie]

I’d imagine she was underweight when we saw her. If she was too traumatized to speak her abstaining from eating enough wouldn’t be much of a shocker so it’d make sense if she didn’t grow as much as expected until she recovered a few years later. The clothes she’s wearing are also a little oversized so we can’t see exactly how big she is, just that she looks tiny in the room she’s in.